Vehicle operator emotion management system and method

ABSTRACT

The method, system, and computer-readable medium facilitates monitoring a vehicle operator during the course of vehicle operation to determine whether the vehicle operator is in an emotionally impaired state (e.g., aggressive or agitated) and presenting appropriate stimuli (e.g., music or sound recordings) to the vehicle operator when impairment is detected. The vehicle operator, the environment surrounding the vehicle, or forces acting on the vehicle may be monitored using a variety of sensors, including optical sensors, accelerometers, or biometric sensors (e.g., skin conductivity, heart rate, or voice modulation). When the vehicle operator is determined to be in an emotionally impaired state, stimuli are selected to improve the emotional state of the vehicle operator. The selection is based on sensor data and data regarding prior responses of the vehicle operator to various stimuli. After selection, the stimuli are presented to the vehicle operator while monitoring continues.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of and claims the benefit of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 15/869,736, filed on Jan. 12, 2018, which isa continuation of and claims the benefit of U.S. patent application Ser.No. 15/600,125, filed on May 19, 2017 (now U.S. Pat. No. 9,934,667),which is a continuation of and claims the benefit of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 14/201,491, filed on Mar. 7, 2014 (now U.S. Pat.No. 9,734,685), which are incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure generally relates to a system and a method formanaging vehicle operator emotions by determining when a vehicleoperator is in an impaired emotional state and providing targetedstimuli to moderate the emotional state.

BACKGROUND

Every year many vehicle accidents are caused by impaired vehicleoperation. One common kind of impaired vehicle operation is agitated,anxious, or aggressive driving. Numerous incidents occurring during thecourse of a trip may aggravate the vehicle operator, such as trafficjams, poor driving by other drivers, vehicle malfunctions, or inclementweather conditions. Additionally, factors unrelated to the trip mayaggravate the vehicle operator, such as receipt of bad news, runningbehind schedule, passenger conduct, or any number of factors occurringprior to vehicle operation. These and other stressors may contribute toemotional responses of vehicle operators that impair their ability tooperate vehicles safely.

Many modern vehicles are equipped with a variety of devices that mayalso have an impact on a vehicle operator's emotional state, such assound systems. Music is known to influence the emotional state oflisteners, and the effect is known to depend upon the music presented,as well as the musical tastes and preferences of the listener. A varietyof systems and methods are available to learn listener preferences andpredict whether a listener will generally enjoy a particular piece ofmusic.

SUMMARY

The present invention discloses a method, system, and computer-readablemedium storing instructions for managing the emotional state of avehicle operator. One embodiment consists of a computer-implementedmethod including receiving data about a vehicle operator and vehicleoperation from one or more sensors, processing the sensor data todetermine whether the vehicle operator is in an impaired emotionalstate, selecting one or more appropriate stimuli (e.g., music, soundrecordings, or tones) based on the sensor data and information regardingthe vehicle operator when the vehicle operator is determined to be in anemotionally impaired state, and presenting the stimuli to the vehicleoperator. An alternative embodiment consists of a computer systemincluding one or more processors, sensors, and program memories storinginstructions that when executed by the one or more processors cause thecomputer system to receive data about a vehicle operator and vehicleoperation from the sensors, process the sensor data to determine whetherthe vehicle operator is in an impaired emotional state, select one ormore appropriate stimuli based on the sensor data and informationregarding the vehicle operator when the vehicle operator is determinedto be in an emotionally impaired state, and present the stimuli to thevehicle operator. Another alternative embodiment consists of a tangible,non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that whenexecuted by one or more processors of a computer system cause thecomputer system to receive data about a vehicle operator and vehicleoperation from the sensors, process the sensor data to determine whetherthe vehicle operator is in an impaired emotional state, select one ormore appropriate stimuli based on the sensor data and informationregarding the vehicle operator when the vehicle operator is determinedto be in an emotionally impaired state, and present the stimuli to thevehicle operator.

The sensors may include any electronic device capable of providingsensor data regarding the vehicle operator, vehicle motion, or thevehicle's environment. In addition to other information, the sensors maybe used to monitor the following physiological data regarding thevehicle operator: heart rate, heart rate variability data, grippressure, electrodermal activity data, telematics driving score, bodytemperature, arm movement, head movement, vocal amplitude, vocalfrequency, vocal pattern, gaze direction, gaze duration, head direction,eyelid opening, blink rate, pupillometry data, blood pressure,electroencephalographic data, respiration rate, respiration pattern,galvanic skin response, functional near infrared optical brain imagingdata, functional magnetic resonance imaging data, and electromyographicdata. The sensors may also be used to monitor the followingnon-physiological data: vehicle lane deviation, vehicle swerving,vehicle lane centering, vehicle acceleration along a single axis ormultiple axes, and vehicle distance to other objects. Additional sensordata from sensors currently existing or later developed may also beused.

In some embodiments, the sensors may be communicatively connected to amobile device, such as a smart phone, or an on-board computer. Themobile device or on-board computer may receive sensor data, process thesensor data to determine whether a vehicle operator is in an emotionallyimpaired state, access a user profile for the vehicle operator, selectappropriate stimuli based on the sensor data and user profile, andpresent the selected stimuli to the vehicle operator. The determinationof whether the vehicle operator is in an impaired emotional state mayinvolve calculating impairment scores (e.g., a pulse rate score, a pupildilation score, a hard braking score, etc.) using the sensor data, thencalculating one or more total impairment scores (e.g., a totalaggression score, a total anxiety score, etc.) from the impairmentscores. The vehicle operator may be determined to be in an emotionallyimpaired state when any of the total scores fall below a minimumthreshold value or exceed a maximum threshold value. Additionally, themobile device or on-board computer may communicate with one or moreservers, which may perform part or all of the aforementioned functions.In some embodiments, the total impairment scores may be used to adjustan insurance premium charged to the vehicle operator.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The figures described below depict various aspects of the applications,methods, and systems disclosed herein. It should be understood that eachfigure depicts an embodiment of a particular aspect of the disclosedapplications, systems and methods, and that each of the figures isintended to accord with a possible embodiment thereof. Furthermore,wherever possible, the following description refers to the referencenumerals included in the following figures, in which features depictedin multiple figures are designated with consistent reference numerals.

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a computer network, a computerserver, a mobile device, and an on-board computer on which an exemplaryvehicle operator emotion management system and method may operate inaccordance with the described embodiments;

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary mobile device oron-board computer;

FIG. 3 depicts an exemplary vehicle operator emotion management methodin accordance with the presently described embodiments;

FIG. 4 depicts an exemplary vehicle operator total anxiety scoredetermination method for implementing the vehicle operator emotionmanagement method in accordance with the presently describedembodiments;

FIG. 5 depicts an exemplary vehicle operator total aggression scoredetermination method for implementing the vehicle operator emotionmanagement method in accordance with the presently describedembodiments;

FIG. 6 depicts an exemplary vehicle operator emotion modification methodfor implementing the vehicle operator emotion management method inaccordance with the presently described embodiments;

FIGS. 7-13 depict embodiments of user interface screens associated witha client application for implementing the vehicle operator emotionmanagement system in accordance with the presently describedembodiments;

FIG. 14 depicts an insurance rate adjustment method for implementing thevehicle operator emotion management system in accordance with thepresently described embodiments; and

FIG. 15 depicts an exemplary comprehensive impairment scoredetermination method for implementing the vehicle operator emotionmanagement system in accordance with the presently describedembodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Although the following text sets forth a detailed description ofnumerous different embodiments, it should be understood that the legalscope of the invention is defined by the words of the claims set forthat the end of this patent. The detailed description is to be construedas exemplary only and does not describe every possible embodiment, asdescribing every possible embodiment would be impractical, if notimpossible. One could implement numerous alternate embodiments, usingeither current technology or technology developed after the filing dateof this patent, which would still fall within the scope of the claims.

It should also be understood that, unless a term is expressly defined inthis patent using the sentence “As used herein, the term ‘______’ ishereby defined to mean . . . ” or a similar sentence, there is no intentto limit the meaning of that term, either expressly or by implication,beyond its plain or ordinary meaning, and such term should not beinterpreted to be limited in scope based on any statement made in anysection of this patent (other than the language of the claims). To theextent that any term recited in the claims at the end of this patent isreferred to in this patent in a manner consistent with a single meaning,that is done for sake of clarity only so as to not confuse the reader,and it is not intended that such claim term be limited, by implicationor otherwise, to that single meaning. Finally, unless a claim element isdefined by reciting the word “means” and a function without the recitalof any structure, it is not intended that the scope of any claim elementbe interpreted based on the application of 35 U.S.C. § 112(f).

As used herein, the term “impaired emotional state” refers to any of anumber of psychological states such as anxiety, agitation, aggression,nervousness, hyperactivity, mania, distraction, lethargy, or drowsinessthat may reduce vehicle operator performance. Additionally, as usedherein, the term “vehicle” may refer to any of a number of motorizedtransportation devices. A vehicle may be a car, truck, bus, train, boat,plane, etc.

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary vehicle operatoremotion management system 100. The high-level architecture includes bothhardware and software applications, as well as various datacommunications channels for communicating data between the varioushardware and software components. The vehicle operator emotionmanagement system 100 may be roughly divided into front-end components102 and back-end components 104. The front-end components 102 monitor avehicle operator 106 for indications of an impaired emotional stateusing data from a physiological sensor 120 or various additional sensors(not shown) within a vehicle 108 (e.g., a car, truck, etc.). Thefront-end components 102 may further process the sensor data using amobile device 110 or on-board computer 114 to determine whether thevehicle operator 106 is in an impaired emotional state. When an impairedemotional state is determined to exist, appropriate response stimuli toimprove the emotional state of the vehicle operator 106 may bedetermined using the mobile device 110 or on-board computer 114. Theresponse stimuli may include music or other sound recordings presentedusing a speaker 122. In some embodiments of the system, the front-endcomponents 102 may communicate with the back-end components 104 via anetwork 130. The back-end components 104 may use one or more servers 140to process the sensor data provided by the front-end components 102 todetermine the emotional state of the vehicle operator 106 andcommunicate the determination of an impaired emotional state to thefront-end components 102 via the network 130. Additionally, oralternatively, the back-end components 104 may determine appropriateresponse stimuli to present to the vehicle operator 106. Responsestimuli information may be stored either in the front-end components orstreamed to the front-end components via network 130.

The front-end components 102 are disposed within one or more mobiledevices 110 or on-board computers 114, which may be permanently orremovably installed in the vehicle 108. The mobile device 110 or theon-board computer 114 may interface with one or more physiologicalsensors 120 or various other sensors (not shown) in the vehicle 108(e.g., a braking sensor, a speedometer, a tachometer, an accelerometer,an optical sensor, a microphone, etc.), which sensors may also beincorporated within or connected to the mobile device 110 or theon-board computer 114. In some embodiments, the physiological sensor 120may be permanently installed within the vehicle 108. In otherembodiments, the other sensors (not shown) may perform part or all ofthe functions of the physiological sensor 120, in which case thephysiological sensor 120 may not be present. Further, the physiologicalsensor 120 or other sensors (not shown) within the vehicle 108 may beinstalled by the manufacturer of the vehicle 108 or as an aftermarketmodification to the vehicle 108. The mobile device 110 or the on-boardcomputer 114 may further interface with various output devices in thevehicle 108, such as one or more speakers 122 or displays (not shown).The physiological sensor 120 may include a thermometer, microphone,thermal image capture device, electroencephalograph (EEG), galvanic skinresponse (GSR) sensor, heart rate sensors, respiratory rate sensor, orother biometric sensors. The sensors may also include other sensorscurrently existing or later developed.

The on-board computer 114 may supplement the functions performed by themobile device 110 described herein by, for example, sending or receivinginformation to and from the mobile device 110 or the physiologicalsensor 120. In one embodiment, the on-board computer 114 may perform allof the functions of the mobile device 110 described herein, in whichcase no mobile device 110 may be present in the system 100. In anotherembodiment, the mobile device 110 may perform all of the functions ofthe on-board computer 114, in which case no on-board computer 114 may bepresent in the system 100. The mobile device 110 or on-board computer114 may communicate with the network 130 over links 112 and 118,respectively. Additionally, the mobile device 110 and on-board computer114 may communicate with one another directly over link 116.

The mobile device 110 may be either a general-use mobile personalcomputer, cellular phone, smart phone, tablet computer, or wearabledevice (e.g., a watch, glasses, etc.) or a dedicated vehicle operatorimpairment monitoring computer. The on-board computer 114 may be ageneral-use on-board computer capable of performing many functionsrelating to vehicle operation or a dedicated vehicle operator impairmentmonitoring computer. Further, the on-board computer 114 may be installedby the manufacturer of the vehicle 108 or as an aftermarket modificationto the vehicle 108. In some embodiments, the mobile device 110 oron-board computer 114 may be thin-client devices which outsource some ormost of the processing to the server 140.

One or more vehicle operators 106 may operate the vehicle 108. Whileshown in a slightly reclined sitting position, those of ordinary skillin the art will appreciate that the vehicle operator 106 could besituated in any number of ways (e.g., reclining at a different angle,standing, etc.) and may operate the vehicle 108 using controls otherthan the steering wheel and pedals shown in FIG. 1 (e.g., one or moresticks, yokes, levers, etc.).

In some embodiments, the front-end components 102 communicate with theback-end components 104 via the network 130. The network 130 may be aproprietary network, a secure public internet, a virtual private networkor some other type of network, such as dedicated access lines, plainordinary telephone lines, satellite links, cellular data networks,combinations of these, etc. Where the network 130 comprises theInternet, data communications may take place over the network 130 via anInternet communication protocol. The back-end components 104 include oneor more servers 140. Each server 140 may include one or more computerprocessors adapted and configured to execute various softwareapplications and components of the vehicle operator emotion managementsystem 100, in addition to other software applications. The server 140may further include a database 146, which may be adapted to store datarelated to the operation of the vehicle operator emotion managementsystem 100. Such data might include, for example, images, sensor inputs,data analyzed according to the methods discussed below, or other kindsof data pertaining to the vehicle operator emotional impairment uploadedto the server 140 via the network 103. Such data might further includeinformation related to vehicle operator emotional responses to variousstimuli, including songs, audio recordings, broadcast stations, radioprograms, podcasts, musical genres, types of recordings, etc. The server140 may access data stored in the database 146 when executing variousfunctions and tasks associated with the operation of the vehicleoperator emotion management system 100.

Although the vehicle operator emotion management system 100 is shown toinclude one mobile device 110, one on-board computer 114, onephysiological sensor 120, and one server 140, it should be understoodthat different numbers of mobile devices 110, on-board computers 114,physiological sensors 120, and servers 140 may be utilized. For example,the system 100 may include a plurality of servers 140 and hundreds ofmobile devices 110 or on-board computers 114, all of which may beinterconnected via the network 130. Furthermore, the database storage orprocessing performed by the one or more servers 140 may be distributedamong a plurality of servers 140 in an arrangement known as “cloudcomputing.” This configuration may provide several advantages, such asenabling near real-time uploads and downloads of information as well asperiodic uploads and downloads of information. This may in turn providefor a thin-client embodiment of the mobile device 110 or on-boardcomputer 114 discussed herein. Alternatively, the vehicle operatoremotion management system 100 may include only the front-end components102. For example, a physiological sensor 120 may provide data to amobile device 110 or on-board computer 114, which may perform all of theprocessing associated with receiving sensor data, determining whetherthe vehicle operator 106 is in an impaired emotional state, selectingappropriate mediating stimuli, and presenting the stimuli to the vehicleoperator 106 through a speaker 122. As such, the vehicle operatoremotion management system 100 may be a “stand-alone” system, neithersending nor receiving information over the network 130.

The server 140 may have a controller 155 that is operatively connectedto the database 146 via a link 156. It should be noted that, while notshown, additional databases may be linked to the controller 155 in aknown manner. The controller 155 may include a program memory 160, aprocessor 162 (which may be called a microcontroller or amicroprocessor), a random-access memory (RAM) 164, and an input/output(I/O) circuit 166, all of which may be interconnected via anaddress/data bus 165. It should be appreciated that although only onemicroprocessor 162 is shown, the controller 155 may include multiplemicroprocessors 162. Similarly, the memory of the controller 155 mayinclude multiple RAMs 164 and multiple program memories 160. Althoughthe I/O circuit 166 is shown as a single block, it should be appreciatedthat the I/O circuit 166 may include a number of different types of I/Ocircuits. The RAM 164 and program memories 160 may be implemented assemiconductor memories, magnetically readable memories, or opticallyreadable memories, for example. The controller 155 may also beoperatively connected to the network 130 via a link 135.

The server 140 may further include a number of software applicationsstored in a program memory 160. The various software applications mayinclude a client application 142 for implementing the vehicle operatoremotion management system 100 on the server 140. The softwareapplications may further include a web server application 143responsible for generating data content to be included in web pages sentfrom the web server 140 to the mobile device 110 or on-board computer114. The various software applications may be executed on the samecomputer processor as the client application 142 or the web serverapplication 143, or the software application may be executed ondifferent computer processors.

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of a mobile device 110 or an on-boardcomputer 114 for implementing the system for managing vehicle operatoremotions by receiving sensor data, determining an impaired emotionalstate, and presenting appropriate stimuli to mediate the emotionalstate. The sensor data may come from sensors incorporated within themobile device 110 or on-board computer 114. Additionally, oralternatively, the communication unit 220 may receive sensor data fromone or more external sensors within the vehicle 108 or from thephysiological sensor 120. The sensor data are processed by thecontroller 204 to determine whether the vehicle operator 106 is in animpaired emotional state. When the controller 204 determines thatoperator impairment exists, appropriate stimuli are selected from thedata storage using the controller 204. The mobile device 110 or on-boardcomputer 114 then provides the stimuli to the vehicle operator 106 usingthe speaker 246 or other appropriate output device. Additionally, oralternatively, the mobile device 110 or on-board computer 114 maytransmit the sensor data to the server 140 for processing or may receivestimuli selected by the server 140 for presentation to the vehicleoperator 106 via the network 130.

The mobile device 110 or on-board computer 114 may include a display202, a Global Positioning System (GPS) unit 206, a communication unit220, a front image capture device 218, a back image capture device 222,an accelerometer array 224, one or more additional sensors (not shown),a user-input device (not shown), a speaker 246, and, like the server140, a controller 204. The mobile device 110 and on-board computer 114may be integrated into a single device, or either can perform thefunctions of both. It will be appreciated that functions performed byeither the mobile device 110 or the on-board computer 114 may also beperformed by the mobile device 110 in concert with the on-board computer114.

Similar to the controller 155, the controller 204 includes a programmemory 208, one or more microcontrollers or microprocessors (MP) 210, aRAM 212, and an I/O circuit 216, all of which are interconnected via anaddress/data bus 214. The program memory 208 includes an operatingsystem 226, a data storage 228, a plurality of software applications230, and a plurality of software routines 234. The operating system 226,for example, may include one of a plurality of mobile platforms such asthe iOS®, Android™, Palm® webOS, Windows® Mobile/Phone, BlackBerry® OS,or Symbian® OS mobile technology platforms, developed by Apple Inc.,Google Inc., Palm Inc. (now Hewlett-Packard Company), MicrosoftCorporation, Research in Motion (RIM), and Nokia, respectively. The datastorage 228 may include data such as user profiles and preferences,application data for the plurality of applications 230, routine data forthe plurality of routines 234, and other data necessary to interact withthe server 140 through the digital network 130. In some embodiments, thecontroller 204 may also include, or otherwise be communicativelyconnected to, other data storage mechanisms (e.g., one or more hard diskdrives, optical storage drives, solid state storage devices, etc.) thatreside within the mobile device 110 or on-board computer 114.

As discussed with reference to the controller 155, it should beappreciated that although FIG. 2 depicts only one microprocessor 210,the controller 204 may include multiple microprocessors 210. Similarly,the memory of the controller 204 may include multiple RAMs 212 andmultiple program memories 208. Although the FIG. 2 depicts the I/Ocircuit 216 as a single block, the I/O circuit 216 may include a numberof different types of I/O circuits. The controller 204 may implement theRAMs 212 and the program memories 208 as semiconductor memories,magnetically readable memories, or optically readable memories, forexample.

The communication unit 220 may communicate with one or more externalsensors within the vehicle 108, mobile devices 110, on-board computers114, physiological sensors 120, or servers 140 via any suitable wirelesscommunication protocol network, such as a wireless telephony network(e.g., GSM, CDMA, LTE, etc.), a Wi-Fi network (802.11 standards), aWiMAX network, a Bluetooth network, etc. Additionally, or alternatively,the communication unit 220 may also be capable of communicating using anear field communication standard (e.g., ISO/IEC 18092, standardsprovided by the NFC Forum, etc.). Further, the communication unit 220may provide input signals to the controller 204 via the I/O circuit 216.The communication unit 220 may also transmit sensor data, device statusinformation, control signals, or other output from the controller 204 toone or more external sensors within the vehicle 108, mobile devices 110,on-board computers 114, physiological sensors 120, or servers 140.

The GPS unit 206 may use “Assisted GPS” (A-GPS), satellite GPS, or anyother suitable global positioning protocol (e.g., the GLONASS systemoperated by the Russian government) or system that locates the positionthe mobile device 110 or on-board computer 114. For example, A-GPSutilizes terrestrial cell phone towers or Wi-Fi hotspots (e.g., wirelessrouter points) to more accurately and more quickly determine location ofthe mobile device 110 or on-board computer 114 while satellite GPSgenerally are more useful in more remote regions that lack cell towersor Wi-Fi hotspots. The front and back image capture devices 218 and 222may be built-in cameras within the mobile device 110 or on-boardcomputer 114 or may be peripheral cameras, such as webcams, camerasinstalled inside the vehicle 108, cameras installed outside the vehicle108, etc., that are communicatively coupled with the mobile device 110or on-board computer 114. The front image capture device 218 may beoriented toward the vehicle operator 106 to observe the vehicle operator106 as described below. The back image capture device 222 may beoriented toward the front of the vehicle 108 to observe the road, lanemarkings, or other objects in front of the vehicle 108. Some embodimentsmay have both a front image capture device 218 and a back image capturedevice 222, but other embodiments may have only one or the other.Further, either or both of the front image capture device 218 and backimage capture device 222 may include an infrared illuminator 218 i, 222i, respectively, to facilitate low light or night image capturing. Suchan infrared illuminator 218 i, 222 i may be automatically activated whenlight is insufficient for image capturing. The accelerometer array 224may be one or more accelerometers positioned to determine the force anddirection of movements of the mobile device 110 or on-board computer114. In some embodiments, the accelerometer array 224 may include anX-axis accelerometer 224 x, a Y-axis accelerometer 224 y, and a Z-axisaccelerometer 224 z to measure the force and direction of movement ineach dimension respectively. It will be appreciated by those of ordinaryskill in the art that a three dimensional vector describing a movementof the mobile device 110 or on-board computer 114 through threedimensional space can be established by combining the outputs of theX-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis accelerometers 224 x, y, z using knownmethods. The GPS unit 206, the front image capture device 218, the backimage capture device 222, the accelerometer array 224, and the one ormore other sensors (not shown) may be referred to collectively as the“sensors” of the mobile device 110 or on-board computer 114. Of course,it will be appreciated that additional GPS units 206, front imagecapture devices 218, back image capture devices 222, or accelerometerarrays 224 may be added to the mobile device 110 or on-board computer114.

Further, the mobile device 110, on-board computer 114, or physiologicalsensor 120 may also include (or be coupled to) other sensors such as athermometer, microphone, thermal image capture device,electroencephalograph (EEG), galvanic skin response (GSR) sensor, heartrate sensor, other biometric sensors, etc. A thermometer or thermalimage capture device may be used to determine an abnormal vehicleoperator 106 body temperature or a change in the vehicle operator's 106body temperature. A microphone may be used to receive voice inputs, andmay also be used to detect irregularities in the voice of the vehicleoperator 106 indicating that vehicle operator 106 is agitated or understress. An EEG may be used to determine whether a vehicle operator 106is stressed, distracted, or otherwise impaired. A GSR sensor may be usedto detect whether the vehicle operator 106 is stressed (i.e., that theconductance of the vehicle operator's 106 skin has varied from itsnormal level). Other biometric sensors may similarly be used to detectwhether a vehicle operator 106 is in an impaired emotional state. Thesensors of the mobile device 110 and the on-board computer 114, togetherwith the physiological sensor 120 and any additional sensors within thevehicle 108 that are communicatively connected to the mobile device 110or the on-board computer 114, may be referred to collectively as the“sensors” of the vehicle operator emotion management system 100.

The user-input device (not shown) may include a “soft” keyboard that isdisplayed on the display 202 of the mobile device 110 or on-boardcomputer 114, an external hardware keyboard communicating via a wired ora wireless connection (e.g., a Bluetooth keyboard), an external mouse,or any other suitable user-input device. The user-input device (notshown) may also include a microphone capable of receiving user voiceinput.

The one or more processors 210 may be adapted and configured to executeany of one or more of the plurality of software applications 230 or anyone or more of the plurality of software routines 234 residing in theprogram memory 204, in addition to other software applications. One ofthe plurality of applications 230 may be a client application 232 thatmay be implemented as a series of machine-readable instructions forperforming the various tasks associated with implementing the vehicleoperator emotion management system 100 as well as receiving informationat, displaying information on, and transmitting information from themobile device 110 or on-board computer 114. The client application 232may function to implement a stand-alone system or as a system whereinthe front-end components 102 communicate with back-end components 104 asdescribed herein. The client application 232 may includemachine-readable instruction for implementing a user interface to allowa user to input commands to and receive information from vehicleoperator emotion management system 100. One of the plurality ofapplications 230 may be a native web browser 236, such as Apple'sSafari®, Google Android™ mobile web browser, Microsoft InternetExplorer® for Mobile, Opera Mobile™, that may be implemented as a seriesof machine-readable instructions for receiving, interpreting, anddisplaying web page information from the server 140. Another applicationof the plurality of applications may include an embedded web browser 242that may be implemented as a series of machine-readable instructions forreceiving, interpreting, and displaying web page information from theserver 140. One of the plurality of routines may include an imagecapture routine 238 that coordinates with the front image capture device218 or back image capture device 222 to retrieve image data for use withone or more of the plurality of applications, such as the clientapplication 232, or for use with other routines. Another routine in theplurality of routines may include an accelerometer routine 240 thatdetermines the force and direction of movements of the mobile device 110or on-board computer 114. The accelerometer routine 240 may process datafrom the accelerometer array 224 to determine a vector describing themotion of the mobile device 110 or on-board computer 114 for use withthe client application 232. In some embodiments where the accelerometerarray 224 has X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis accelerometers 224 x, y, and z,the accelerometer routine 240 may combine the data from eachaccelerometer 224 x, y, and z to establish a vector describing themotion of the mobile device 110 or on-board computer 114 through threedimensional space. Furthermore, in some embodiments, the accelerometerroutine 240 may use data pertaining to less than three axes, such aswhen determining when the vehicle 108 is braking.

A user may launch the client application 232 from the mobile device 110or on-board computer 114, to access the server 140 to implement thevehicle operator emotion management system 100. Additionally, the usermay also launch or instantiate any other suitable user interfaceapplication (e.g., the native web browser 236, or any other one of theplurality of software applications 230) to access the server 140 torealize the vehicle operator emotion management system 100.

In embodiments where the mobile device 110 or on-board computer 114 is athin-client device, the server 140 may perform many of the processingfunctions remotely that would otherwise be performed by the mobiledevice 110 or on-board computer 114. In such embodiments, the mobiledevice 110 or on-board computer 114 may gather data from its sensors orother sensors as described herein, but, rather than analyzing the datalocally, the mobile device 110 or on-board computer 114 may instead sendthe data to the server 140 for remote processing. The server 140 mayperform the analysis of the gathered data to determine whether thevehicle operator 106 may be in an emotionally impaired state. If theserver 140 determines that the vehicle operator 106 may be in anemotionally impaired state, the server 140 may select appropriateameliorative stimuli and command the mobile device 110 or on-boardcomputer 114 to present the stimuli to the vehicle operator 106 asdescribed below. Additionally, the server 140 may generate metrics andsuggestions regarding vehicle operator emotional impairment based on thegathered data.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram depicting an exemplary embodiment of a vehicleoperator emotion management method 300 implemented by the vehicleoperator emotion management system 100. More particularly the method 300may be performed by the mobile device 110 or on-board computer 114 or byeither or both of these in conjunction with the server 140. The method300 may be initiated by a command (block 302), following which thesensors may be calibrated (block 304). When in operation, the method 300collects sensor data about the emotional state of the vehicle operator106 (block 306) and processes the sensor data to determine whether thevehicle operator 106 is in an impaired emotional state (block 308). Whenan impairment is determined to exist (block 310), the method 300 selectsappropriate response stimuli to manage the emotional state of thevehicle operator 106 (block 312) and then presents the stimuli to thevehicle operator 106 (block 314). In the exemplary embodiment, themethod 300 continues to monitor the emotional state until the trip iscomplete (block 316), but other embodiments may continue monitoring foran extended period or may terminate monitoring prior to the completionof the trip under certain circumstances. Either during or after vehicleoperation, sensor data or determinations of emotional impairment may bestored and analyzed to identify trends in the emotional states of thevehicle operator 106 (block 318).

The command to start the vehicle operator emotion management method 300may be a user command received by the mobile device 110 or on-boardcomputer 114 via the client application 232. Alternatively oradditionally, the command may be sent by the server 140 or may begenerated automatically by the mobile device 110 or on-board computer114 after the meeting of a condition (e.g., the vehicle 108 has beenstarted; the mobile device 110 is within a specified distance from thevehicle, a certain time, etc.). In some embodiments, the vehicleoperator emotion management system may continuously collect sensor datafollowing a first command to initiate a client application 232 but mayonly perform method 300 following a second command (block 302). In suchembodiments, the sensors may be calibrated both after the first commandand after the second command.

Following initiation of the method 300, the physiological sensor 120 andthe sensors of the mobile device 110 or on-board computer 114 may becalibrated (block 304). For example the front image capture device 218may attempt to detect the face and eyes of the vehicle operator 106.Calibration may further entail adjusting the front image capture device218 to account for the vehicle operator's 106 skin tone or facialcharacteristic, ambient light in the vehicle, the background behind thevehicle operator 106, etc. The back image capture device 222 may also becalibrated, such as by attempting to detect a road in front of thevehicle, identify lane markings, identify other vehicles, detectcoastlines or a water surface, or detect a horizon. Calibration mayfurther entail adjusting the back image capture device 222 to accountfor the color of the road, road conditions (e.g., a wet road or an icyroad), lane markings, wind speed, wave height, cloud cover, time of day,ambient light, precipitation, etc. The accelerometer array 224 may alsobe calibrated. Such calibration may entail accounting for constantvibration (e.g., the vibration caused by the engine of the vehicle 108)or other repetitive forces applied to the mobile device 110 or on-boardcomputer 114. The physiological sensor 120 or other biometric sensorsmay be calibrated by measuring the vehicle operator's 106 pulse rate,respiratory rate, skin conductance, etc. Other sensors may similarly becalibrated upon initialization of the method 300 or at intervals duringmonitoring. Changes in the sensor measurements from the baselineestablished during calibration may indicate the vehicle operator 106 isentering or has entered an impaired emotional state. Previously measuredsensor data stored in the data storage 228 of the mobile device 110 orthe on-board computer 114 or stored in the system database 146 of theserver 140 may also be used for calibration. Calibration with previouslyestablished baseline measurements is of particular use where a vehicleoperator 106 is in an emotionally impaired state at the time ofcalibration.

After calibration, the mobile device 110 or on-board computer 114 maycollect data about potential vehicle operator impairment using thephysiological sensor 120 and other sensors within the vehicle 108 (block306). Unmodified sensor data or determinations of the vehicle operator'semotional state derived therefrom may be stored or recorded in a logfile by the mobile device 110, on-board computer 114, or server 140.Sensor data received by sensors connected to one of the mobile device110 or on-board computer 114 may be communicated to another mobiledevice 110 or on-board computer 114 for storage or processing. Sensordata may also be communicated to the server 140 via network 130 forstorage or processing. Sensor data may include a raw or modified outputsignal from a physiological sensor 120 or any sensor incorporated withinor communicatively connected to a mobile device 110 or on-board computer114.

Upon receiving the sensor data, the mobile device 110, on-board computer114, or server 140 processes the sensor data to determine whether thevehicle operator 106 is in an impaired emotional state (block 308). Inone embodiment, the mobile device 110 or on-board computer 114 mayreceive sensor data and transmit the data to the server 140 via network130, which may be stored in program memory 160 or RAM 164 and processedusing processor 162 according to program instructions stored in theprogram memory 160. Alternatively, or in addition, the physiologicalsensor 120 may communicate sensor data to the mobile device 110 oron-board computer 114, where the sensor data may be processed orcombined with other sensor data prior to transmission to the server 140.Sensor data may also be preprocessed by the mobile device 110 oron-board computer 114 before being sent to another mobile device 110 oron-board computer 114 or to the server 140 for processing to determineoperator emotional state. Such pre-processing may include processingimage data to determine pupil dilation or facial flushing, calculating athree-dimensional vector from accelerometer array 224 data, detectingproximity to other vehicles from a proximity sensor installed in thevehicle 108 or from image capture data, determining changes in vocalpitch from a microphone in the vehicle 108 or the mobile device 110,etc.

Determining whether the vehicle operator 106 is in an impaired emotionalstate may include separate but complimentary determinations such aswhether the vehicle operator 108 is exhibiting signs of anxiety, asshown in FIG. 4, or aggression, as shown in FIG. 5. It will beappreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that thesedeterminations may be made within a single process as well. Furthermore,the methods of determining vehicle operator emotional state depicted inFIGS. 4 and 5 are exemplary only; additional or alternative methods maybe used to determine whether the vehicle operator is in an emotionallyimpaired state and the type of such emotionally impaired state. Inaddition to sensor data, non-sensor information (e.g., traffic orweather conditions, local attractions or facilities, etc.) may beobtained from external sources via network 130.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram depicting an exemplary embodiment of a vehicleoperator total anxiety score determination method 400 implemented by thevehicle operator emotion management system 100 while processing sensordata about potential vehicle operator emotional impairment at block 308.The method 400 determines a GSR score (block 410), a pulse rate score(block 412), a vocal stress indicator score (block 414), and a pupildilation score (block 416) using data from one or more sensors (blocks402, 404, 406, and 408). The scores of these impairment indicators (GSRscore, pulse rate score, vocal stress indicator score, and pupildilation score) may then be weighted (blocks 418 a-d) and combined todetermine the total anxiety score (block 420). The GSR score may bedetermined by multiplying the GSR sensor output voltage in Volts,resistance in Ohms, or conductance in Siemens (block 402) by anappropriate conversion factor such that a baseline score of the vehicleoperator 106 in a normal emotional state corresponds to a score of 50points. The pulse rate score may be determined by multiplying thedetected pulse rate by a conversion factor such that a baseline restingpulse rate score of the vehicle operator 106 corresponds to a score of50 points. The vocal stress indicator score may be determined when thevehicle operator 106 is speaking by multiplying the measured averagevocal pitch of the vehicle operator over a period of time (e.g., 2seconds, 10 seconds, etc.) by a conversion factor such that a baselineunimpaired vehicle operator vocal pitch as determined by priormeasurements corresponds to a score of 50 points. The vocal stressindicator score may be set at a default value when no vehicle operatorspeech is detected, or the prior score may be used until vehicleoperator speech is detected or the trip is complete. The pupil dilationscore may be determined by using the front image capture device toidentify the pupil and estimate the diameter relative to a constantfacial feature (e.g., the interpupillary distance) then multiplying thediameter by a conversion factor such that a baseline unimpaired vehicleoperator pupil diameter as determined by prior measurements correspondsto a score of 50 points. Of course, any of these or other impairmentindicator scores can be calculated by a variety of linear or nonlinearfunctions mapping the output range of each sensor to the range 0 pointsto 100 points or to any other convenient point scale.

After determining scores for the individual impairment indicators asdiscussed above, the method 400 may multiply each score by a weightingfactor 418 a, b, c, or d. For example, if each score is weightedequally, the weighting factors 418 a-d will be identical. However, itmay be advantageous to weight one score higher than another. Forexample, a higher vocal stress indicator score may more reliablyindicate vehicle operator 106 anxiety than GSR or pulse rate scores,which may be high for reasons unrelated to anxiety (e.g., physicalexertion, sweating in response to temperature, etc.). In such anembodiment, the weighting factors 410 a-d may be 0.20, 0.20, 0.25, and0.35 respectively. In some embodiments, the weighting factors may beadjusted based on previous data for the vehicle operator 106 or for alarge group of users. The weighting factors may be adjusted by one ofthe many known learning algorithms such as a support vector machine orneural network algorithms. The method 400 may then sum the weightedscores to determine a total anxiety score (block 420). The total anxietyscore may be logged with a timestamp and stored in data storage 228 orsent to the server 140 for remote storage. Referring again to FIG. 3, ifthe total anxiety score is above a maximum threshold value (e.g., 80 outof 100), the vehicle operator emotion management system 100 maydetermine that the vehicle operator 106 is in an emotionally impairedstate (block 310). Additionally, if the total anxiety score is below aminimum threshold value (e.g., 20 out of 100), the vehicle operatoremotion management system 100 may determine that the vehicle operator106 is in an emotionally impaired state (block 310).

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram depicting an exemplary embodiment of a vehicleoperator total aggression score determination method 500 implemented bythe vehicle operator emotion management system 100 while processingsensor data about potential vehicle operator emotional impairment atblock 308. The method 500 determines a GSR score (block 508), a hardbraking score (block 510), an acceleration score (block 512), and avehicle proximity score (block 514) using data from one or more sensors(blocks 502, 504, and 506). The scores of these impairment indicators(GSR score, hard braking score, acceleration score, and vehicleproximity score) may then be weighted (blocks 516 a-d) and combined todetermine the total anxiety score (block 518). The GSR score may becalculated by multiplying the GSR sensor output voltage in Volts,resistance in Ohms, or conductance in Siemens (block 402) by anappropriate conversion factor such that a baseline score of the vehicleoperator 106 in a normal emotional state corresponds to a score of 50points. The hard braking score may be calculated by adding 1 point to adefault score (e.g. 50 points) every time the magnitude of negativeacceleration in the direction of travel of the vehicle 108 exceeds athreshold during a certain period of time (e.g., 5 minutes). Theacceleration score may be calculated by adding 1 point to a defaultscore (e.g. 50 points) every time the magnitude of acceleration in thedirection of travel of the vehicle 108 exceeds a threshold during acertain period of time (e.g., 5 minutes). The vehicle proximity scoremay be calculated by measuring the distance to another vehicleimmediately ahead of the vehicle 108 using the back image capture device222 or other sensors, determining the minimum safe distanced based onthe speed and braking capabilities of the vehicle 108, and subtractingfrom a score of 100 the multiple of 100 times the ratio of measureddistance to the vehicle immediately ahead to the determined minimum safedistance. Of course, it will be obvious that any of these or otherimpairment indicator scores can be calculated by a variety of linear ornonlinear functions mapping the output range of each sensor to the range0 points to 100 points or to any other convenient point scale.

After determining scores for the individual impairment indicators asdiscussed above, the method 500 may multiply each score by a weightingfactor 516 a, b, c, or d. For example, if each score is weightedequally, the weighting factors 516 a-d will be identical. However, itmay be advantageous to weight one score higher than another. Forexample, a high vehicle proximity score may be more reliably indicate ofaggressive vehicle operation than a hard braking score, which may behigh for reasons unrelated to aggressive operation (e.g., hard brakingby vehicles ahead, sudden lane changes by other vehicles, etc.). In suchan embodiment, the weighting factors 410 a-d may be 0.25, 0.20, 0.25,and 0.30 respectively. In some embodiments, the weighting factors may beadjusted based on previous data for the vehicle operator 106 or for alarge group of users. The weighting factors may be adjusted by one ofthe many known learning algorithms such as a support vector machine orneural network algorithms. The method 500 may then sum the weightedscores to determine a total anxiety score (block 518). The totalaggression score may be logged with a timestamp and stored in datastorage 228 or sent to the server 140 for remote storage. Referringagain to FIG. 3, if the total aggression score is above a maximumthreshold value (e.g., 75 out of 100), the vehicle operator emotionmanagement system 100 may determine that the vehicle operator 106 is inan emotionally impaired state (block 310). Additionally, if the totalaggression score is below a minimum threshold value (e.g., 10 out of100), the vehicle operator emotion management system 100 may determinethat the vehicle operator 106 is in an emotionally impaired state (block310).

Alternatively, it will be understood that instead of a weighted sumadding up to a total anxiety score or total aggression score, either mayinstead be a weighted sum that is subtracted from a maximum score. Insuch a case, the individual impairment indicator scores discussed abovemay be calculated differently. While FIGS. 4 and 5 describe embodimentsof methods 400 and 500 using weighted sums to determine total anxiety ortotal aggression scores, respectively, other mathematical operations maybe used to determine the total drowsiness or distractedness scores.While the exemplary embodiment discussed above uses a 100 point scale,it will be appreciated that a 100 point scale is just one of many pointscales that could be used (e.g., 1 point scale, 50 point scale, 220point scale, etc.). Alternative or additional sensors and impairmentindicators may be used in the determination of the total anxiety scoreor total aggression score. For example, vehicle operator bodytemperature, vehicle operator arm movements, frequency of lane changes,failure to maintain lane centering, time to collision below a threshold,or swerve impairment indicators may be added to the calculation of thetotal anxiety or total aggression scores in a manner similar to thatdescribed above in connection with FIGS. 4 and 5. Additionally, oralternatively, emotional impairment scores other than the total anxietyand total aggression scores may be determined (e.g.,preoccupation/distraction, lethargy, agitation, etc.).

The vehicle operator emotion management system 100 may permit the userto adjust the sensitivity setting for the total impairment scores. Forexample, the decision criteria may be set such that a total anxietyscore must exceed 90 out of 100 to register an emotionally impairedstate at block 310. Additionally or alternatively, the vehicle operatoremotion management system 100 may include one of the many known learningalgorithms such as support vector machine or neural network algorithmsto adjust the individual threshold values (e.g., the hard braking oracceleration thresholds) or conversion factors (e.g., the GSR conversionfactor or the pulse rate conversion factor) discussed in connection withFIGS. 4 and 5. The learning algorithm may operate in connection with theserver 140 to adjust threshold levels, weighting factors, or sensitivitylevels based on calculations performed using aggregated data from someor all of the mobile devices 110 or on-board computers 114 in thevehicle operator emotion management system 100.

Referring again to FIG. 3, when the vehicle operator emotion managementsystem 100 determines that the vehicle operator 106 is in an impairedemotional state at block 310, the vehicle operator emotion managementsystem 100 selects appropriate stimuli to manage the emotionalimpairment (block 312). The stimuli may consist of any music, othersound recordings (e.g., radio shows, sports broadcasts, personalizedmessages, recorded ambient sounds, tones, etc.), telephone calls,suggested local destinations to stop (e.g., coffee shops, gas stations,restaurants, points of historical interest or scenic overlooks, etc.),visual stimuli (e.g., video, still images, dashboard lighting, ambientlighting within the vehicle, etc.), tactile stimuli (e.g., massagefunctions in a vehicle seat, etc.), temperature stimuli (e.g., blasts ofhot or cold air through a vehicle ventilation system, heating or coolingelements in a vehicle seat, etc.), aromatic stimuli, or other stimulithat may affect the emotional state of the vehicle operator 106. Thestimuli may be selected from a set stored on the mobile device 110 oron-board computer 114 or from a set stored on the server 140.Alternatively, or additionally, the stimuli may be selected from anysource accessible by the mobile device 110, on-board computer 114, orserver 140 via the internet or other communication connection (e.g.,terrestrial or satellite radio, streaming music services, image or textsharing services, video hosting web services, etc.). In someembodiments, the selection of appropriate stimuli may include thedetermination of whether to present the stimuli immediately upon adetermination of an impaired emotional state or whether to present thestimuli upon the conclusion of any similar stimuli being presented tothe vehicle operator 106. For example, if a series of songs are selectedas appropriate stimuli while another song is playing in the vehicle 108,the system 100 may determine to delay presentation of the series ofsongs until the other song concludes.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram depicting an exemplary embodiment of anemotional stimuli selection method 600 implemented by the vehicleoperator emotion management system 100 at block 312. Although method 600presents an exemplary embodiment for selecting musical stimuli from alibrary of songs stored on the mobile device 100, on-board computer 114,or server 140, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in theart that alternative stimuli may be used, including stimuli not storedon the mobile device 100, on-board computer 114, or server 140.

The emotional stimuli selection method 600 is initiated by the receiptof a determination that a vehicle operator 106 is in an impairedemotional state (block 602). In the presented embodiment, the method 600then accesses a user profile containing preference and previous responsedata regarding the vehicle operator 108 (block 604). Alternatively, theprofile data may be accessed at the time of initializing the vehicleoperator emotion management method 300 is initiated. The user profilemay contain data relevant to the selection of appropriate stimuli,including: songs the user has recently played; characteristics of thesongs (e.g., genre, tempo, duration, etc.), sensor data corresponding tothe user's response to listening to songs on previous occasions; andtime, location, and external conditions (e.g., weather, traffic,construction, light and sound levels, etc.) associated with previoususer responses. Where a user profile for the vehicle operator 108 isunavailable or otherwise is not used in the method, a general userprofile may instead be used, or a user profile may be generated usingavailable data (e.g., location, type of mobile device used, type ofvehicle, biometric sensor data, etc.).

In some embodiments, the user profile may be initially generated duringa training period prior to implementation of the vehicle operatoremotion management method 300. The training period may last for apredetermined duration (e.g., two weeks, ten hours of sensor data, etc.)or until sufficient data has been collected to establish a user profilethat meets minimum usability criteria (e.g., 10,000 total sensor datapoints, a coefficient of determination R² above 0.5, etc.). During thetraining period, the system 100 may receive, process, and store sensordata using the mobile device 110, on-board computer 114, or server 140.The user profile may be stored locally in the data storage 228 of themobile device 110 or on-board computer 114, or the user profile may bestored on the server in the system database 146. A local copy of theuser profile may also be generated or updated in the data storage 228and used to update the system database 146 at convenient intervals. Thetraining period may involve passive recording of sensor data inconjunction with information regarding various stimuli (e.g., music,radio stations, telephone calls, etc.). Additionally, or alternatively,the training period may involve gathering active input from the user,such as user ratings of songs or user decisions on whether to play orskip songs suggested by the system. For example, a user may use atouch-sensitive display on a mobile device 110 to rate the song byselecting one of multiple virtual buttons. A generic user profile or abaseline user profile based on user and vehicle characteristics may alsobe used as a starting point to be supplemented by data during thetraining period, thereby potentially decreasing the length of thetraining period.

Once the user profile has been accessed, the method 600 selects a firststimulus from a library of potential stimuli based upon the sensor dataand the user profile (block 604). In the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 6,this involves the selection of a song from a library of songs stored ona computer-readable storage medium accessible by the mobile device 110,on-board computer 114, or server 140. The selection may be made by usingone of the many known learning algorithms such as support vectormachines (SVM) or neural network algorithms to predict probable userresponses to potential stimuli. The potential stimuli may then by sortedbased at least in part on the likely response of the vehicle operator106 to each, and the potential stimulus with the most desired expectedresults (e.g., highest probability of reducing all total impairmentscores below specified thresholds, greatest expected value of thedecrease in one or more total impairment scores, etc.) may be selected.Alternatively, the selection may be made by first determining thecharacteristics of a potential stimulus most strongly correlated withthe desired changes in sensor measurements regarding vehicle operatoremotional state (e.g., a reduction in heart rate or hard braking, anincrease in distance between vehicles, etc.) and then selecting astimulus best matching such characteristics. Any of the many knownmachine learning algorithms, regression analysis techniques, or othersimilar methods may be employed to process the user profile and sensordata to select a first stimulus to present to the vehicle operator 106.

In some embodiments, the method 600 may then determine whether thespeakers 122 and 246, display 202, or other presentation device is thenin use (block 608). Where the speaker, display, or other device is inuse, the method 600 may wait until the device is available (block 610).For example, if a song is playing through the vehicle speakers 122, thesong selected in block 606 may be queued to play following thecompletion of the presently playing song, rather than interrupt thepresently playing song. This is done in part to provide a less intrusiveexperience for the user. Alternatively, the song or other stimulus maybe presented immediately in some or all circumstances, such as whensensor data indicate rapidly escalating emotional impairment.

The song or other stimulus is then presented to the vehicle operator 106using the speakers 122 or 246, display 202, or other presentation devicein the vehicle 108 (block 612). During presentation of the first orsubsequent stimulus, the system 100 may provide a means for the vehicleoperator 106 to rate the song or other stimulus being presented. Alsoduring presentation of the stimuli, the system 100 may provide a meansto terminate all stimuli presentation or to terminate the currentstimulus and select a different stimulus. For example, the vehicleoperator 106 may switch to another song or stop playback by speaking acommand (e.g., “play next,” “music off,” etc.), which command isdetected by a microphone within the vehicle 108. When a command to stopall stimuli is received from the vehicle operator 106 (block 616), themethod 600 may terminate the presentation of the stimulus and cause theuser profile to be updated to include the decision and the sensor dataat the time of termination (block 626). The selection and presentationof stimuli in method 600 may then be suppressed for the remainder of thetrip. In some embodiments, a reset timer may be used to suppress thepresentation of additional stimuli using method 600 until a specifiedperiod of time has elapsed (e.g., 30 minutes, 2 hours, etc.) followingtermination of the method 600. Similarly, when a command to stop thecurrent stimulus is received from the vehicle operator 106 (block 618),the user profile may be updated (block 620) and a new stimulus may beselected using the method described above (block 614). The currentstimulus may then be terminated and the new stimulus may be immediatelypresented to the vehicle operator 106 (block 612). In some embodiments,the method may alter or limit the use of prior data in selecting stimuliif multiple commands to stop the current stimulus are received within aset period (e.g., three commands within two minutes). In suchembodiments, additional stimuli may be selected from a subset of thelibrary excluding stimuli similar to the rejected stimuli or may beselected using an alternative user profile.

Upon the conclusion of each stimulus or at various points duringstimulus presentation, the method 600 may reevaluate the sensor data todetermine whether the vehicle operator is in an impaired emotional stateusing the method described above (block 622). If the vehicle operator106 is determined to be in an emotionally impaired state at block 624,then the additional sensor data and information regarding the stimulusmay be used to update the user profile (block 620), and an additionalstimulus may be selected and presented using the method described above(blocks 614 and 612). If the vehicle operator 106 is determined nolonger to be in an emotionally impaired state at block 624, then theadditional sensor data and information regarding the stimulus may beused to update the user profile (block 626), and the method 600 may beterminated. In some embodiments, the method 600 may also terminate aftera specified period of time (e.g., 30 minutes, 1 hour, etc.), regardlessof the emotional state of the vehicle operator 106. As noted above, areset timer may be used to suppress the presentation of additionalstimuli using method 600 until a specified period of time has elapsed(e.g., 30 minutes, 2 hours, etc.) following termination of the method600.

It will be understood that this method 600 may be performed by eitherhardware or software interacting with hardware and by a variety ofmeans, with appropriate modifications. Additionally, the steps presentedin the exemplary embodiment may be performed in a different order,combined, or eliminated without materially modifying the method ofselecting appropriate stimuli to manage the emotional state of a vehicleoperator 106 using a variety of sensor data regarding the vehicleoperator or vehicle operation. Furthermore, additional or alternativestimuli may be used to augment or replace the musical stimuli in theexemplary embodiment of method 600.

Referring again to FIG. 3, upon selection of appropriate emotionalstimuli to manage the vehicle operator's emotional state (block 312),one or more stimuli may be presented to the vehicle operator 106 usingspeaker 122, speaker 246, display 202, or other output device within thevehicle 108. In some embodiments, the stimuli may be selected by amobile device 110, on-board computer 114, or server 140 and thentransmitted to a different mobile device 110 or on-board computer 114for presentation to the vehicle operator 106. Additionally, oralternatively, a transient computer-readable signal may be used tostream an encoded representation of the stimuli to be transmitted from astorage 228 to a mobile device 110 or on-board computer 114 forpresentation to the vehicle operator 106. In some embodiments, theserver 140 may select appropriate stimuli and transmit the determinationor stream a representation of the stimuli to the mobile device 110 orthe on-board computer 114. Where the selected stimulus consists of mediaor another stimulus from a source external to the vehicle operatoremotion management system 100 (e.g., podcast, internet music service,terrestrial or satellite radio, telephone call, video sharing service,etc.), then the mobile device 110 or on-board computer 114 may be causedto access the external source either directly or through the server 140.Where a stimulus consists of text (e.g., an SMS text message, newsstory, status update through a social networking service, etc.), suchstimulus may be presented as an automatically generated spoken versionof the text.

The system 100 may continue to present stimuli until the sensor dataindicate the emotional state of the vehicle operator 106 has returned toan acceptable range. Additionally, the stimuli may continue until atime-out threshold (e.g., 5 minutes, 10 minutes, etc.) has been reachedor until disabled by the vehicle operator 106. Where the vehicleoperator 106 may disable the stimuli by providing a shut-off command,such shut-off command may include the following: depressing a button ofthe mobile device 110 or on-board computer 114, touching a display 202or other input device (not shown), making a gesture observable by thefront image capture device 218, speaking a command observable by amicrophone (not shown) of the mobile device 110 or on-board computer114, stopping the vehicle 108, terminating the client application 232,etc.

The vehicle operator emotion management system 100 may continue togather and analyze data while a particular trip is ongoing (block 316).The trip may become completed by a user command (e.g., the user selectsa “Stop” button on the mobile device 110 or on-board computer 114) orautomatically (e.g., the on-board computer 114 detects that the engineof the vehicle 108 has stopped). When the trip is complete, the vehicleoperator emotion management system 100 may analyze the data collectedduring the just completed trip along with data from previous trips toprovide metrics and suggestions to the user. For example, the vehicleoperator emotion management system 100 may analyze thirty trips over thecourse of two weeks and determine that the user tends to be mostagitated around the hours of 1 P.M. and 7 P.M. Accordingly, the vehicleoperator emotion management system 100 may present stimuli to reduceagitation around those times even in the absence of strong sensor dataindicating an emotionally impaired state. The new data may also be usedto update the vehicle operator baseline, preferences profile, oralgorithms for determining emotional state or selecting appropriatestimuli. For example, the vehicle operator emotion management system 100may record that the vehicle operator 106 reacted negatively to aparticular stimulus presented and avoid presentation of such stimuli insimilar circumstances during future trips.

FIGS. 7-13 depict client application pages or screens that may bedisplayed on the display 202 of the mobile device 110 as part of theuser interface used to implement the vehicle operator impairmentmonitoring system 100. While FIGS. 7-13 depict client application pagesor screens being displayed on the display 202 of the mobile device 110,it will be understood that the client application pages or screens couldbe displayed on additional displays, including displays 202 of theon-board computer 114. The client applications or pages may be generatedby the mobile device 110 or on-board computer 114, or they may be sentto the mobile device 110 by the server 140 (e.g., as with a thinclient). The user may launch the client application 232 from the mobiledevice 110 or on-board computer 114 via any suitable manner, such astouch-selecting a client application icon (not shown) on the display 202or speaking a voice command into a microphone (not shown). After theuser launches the client application 232, the client application 232 maybegin to run on the mobile device 110 or on-board computer 114 asdescribed above in connection with block 302 of FIG. 3.

With reference now to FIG. 7, a home screen 700 of the clientapplication 232 may be displayed on the display 202 of the mobile device110. The home screen 700 may include a “Calibrate” button 702, a “Start”button 704, a “Settings” tab 706, and a “Report” tab 708. When the userselects the calibrate button 702 the client application 232 may executea calibration routine at described above in connection with block 304.

With reference now to FIG. 8, a calibration screen 800 of the clientapplication 232 may be displayed on the display 202 of the mobile device110 during a calibration routine executed in connection with block 304.The calibration screen 800 may include a face detection indicator 802,an eye detection indicator 804, a “Cancel” button 806, and a calibrationprogress indicator 808. While the client application 232 is executingthe calibration routine discussed in connection with block 304, thecalibration screen 800 may display a face detection indicator 802showing on the display 202 the visual area perceived by the clientapplication 232 to be the face of the user 106 or an eye detectionindicator 804 showing on the display the visual area perceived by theclient application 232 to be an eye of the user 106. If a user selectsthe cancel button 806, calibration may be terminated. A calibrationprogress indicator 808 may display an approximate indication of thestatus of the calibration routine.

Referring again to FIG. 7 when the user selects the “Start” button 704,the client application 232 may begin to collect sensor data about thevehicle operator's emotional state, analyze the data, and presentappropriate stimuli when the vehicle operator is determined to be in anemotionally impaired state (blocks 306-316). With reference now to FIG.9, vehicle operator monitoring screen 900 may be displayed on thedisplay 202 of the mobile device 110 executed in connection with blocks306-316. The vehicle operator monitoring screen 900 may include a “Stop”button 902. If the “Stop” button 902 is selected by the user, thevehicle operator emotion management system 100 may terminate vehicleoperator monitoring. Selecting the “Stop” button 902 may also permit theuser to save additional information about the trip as well as launch asave trip screen 1100 as shown in FIG. 11.

With reference now to FIG. 10, an alternative vehicle operatormonitoring screen 1000 of the client application 232 may be displayed onthe display 202 of the mobile device 110 in connection with blocks306-316. The alternative vehicle operator monitoring screen 1000 mayalternatively be displayed only while the system 100 presents stimuli inresponse to a vehicle operator emotional impairment in connection withblock 314. The alternative vehicle operator monitoring screen 1000 mayinclude a “Next” button 1002, a “Stop” button 1004, and rating buttons1006. If the “Next” button 1002 is selected by the user, the emotionalstimuli selection method 600 may update the user profile at block 620,select an alternative stimulus at block 614, and present the alternativestimulus to the vehicle operator 106 at block 612. If the “Stop” button1004 is selected by the user, the emotional stimuli selection method 600may update the user profile at block 626 and terminate vehicle operatoremotion monitoring (blocks 306-316).

With reference now to FIG. 11, a save trip screen 1100 of the clientapplication 232 may be displayed on the display 202 of the mobile device110 used in connection with block 318. The save trip screen 1100 mayinclude a trip name entry field 1102, an additional notes entry field1104, an on-screen keyboard 1106, and a “Save” button 1108. A user mayinput a name of the trip into the trip name entry field 1102 or theadditional notes entry field 1104 using the on-screen keyboard at 1106,a physical keyboard (not shown), or voice input. Selecting the “Save”button 1108 may cause the data from the trip (e.g., sensor data,individual impairment indicators scores, total impairment scores, userprofile data, etc.) to be saved in data storage 228 or to be transmittedto the server 140 for remote storage in the system database 146.

Referring again to FIG. 7 when the user selects the settings tab 706, asettings screen 1200 may be displayed on the display 202 of the mobiledevice 110 as shown in FIG. 12. The settings screen 1200 may include asensitivity adjustment control 1202, a traffic and GPS sensitivityadjustment control 1204, and a “Default” button 1206. Adjusting thesensitivity adjustment control 1202 (e.g., by sliding a virtual slider)may increase or decrease the sensitivity setting of the vehicle operatoremotion management system 100 as discussed above. Similarly, adjustingthe traffic and GPS sensitivity adjustment control 1204 may increase ordecrease the weight given to data regarding traffic conditions andvehicle location as accessed via network 130, relative to the weightgiven to data from the sensors. The “Default” button 1206 may be used toset the sensitivity adjustment control 1202 and traffic and GPSsensitivity adjustment control 1204 back to their default settings.

Referring again to FIG. 7, when the user selects the report tab 708, areport screen 1300 may be displayed on the display 202 of the mobiledevice 110 as shown in FIG. 13 used in connection with block 318. Thereport screen 1300 may include a data range adjustment control 1302, anaverage total impairment score 1304, and a graph of time versus one ormore total impairment scores 1306. The data range adjustment control1302 may be used to change the time axis (i.e., the X-axis) of the graphof time versus total impairment scores 1306 (e.g., show data by hour, byday, by month, by year, etc.). The average total impairment score 1304may display the average of one or more total impairment scores of themost recently completed trip or an average of all of the trips for whichthe vehicle operator impairment monitoring system 100 has data.

FIG. 14 is a flow diagram depicting an exemplary embodiment of aninsurance rate adjustment method 1400 implemented by the vehicleoperator emotion management system 100. More particularly the method1400 may be performed by the server 140. The server 140 may receive someor all of the sensor data collected or generated by the mobile device110, onboard computer 114, or physiological sensor 120 over the network130 (block 1502). The sensor data may include physiological sensor dataregarding the emotional state of the vehicle operator 106, as well asother sensor data regarding vehicle operation patterns and behavior(e.g., accelerometer data, proximity sensor data, GPS data, etc.) thatmay bear upon the risk of injury or property damage. The server 140 mayalso receive some or all of the individual impairment indicators andtotal impairment scores discussed above with respect to FIGS. 4 and 5.The server 140 may then determine one or more impairment scores based onthe data received to block 1402 (block 1404). For example, the server140 may determine a comprehensive impairment score representing asummary of the level of impairment of the vehicle operator 106 over aperiod of time, such as a month or a year. Alternatively, thecomprehensive impairment score may represent a summary of the risk ofinjury and damage associated with the observed impairment levels andbehavior of the vehicle operator 106 or the expected loss from such risklevel.

Once a comprehensive impairment score has been calculated as discussedbelow, the comprehensive impairment score may be used to sort theinsurance policy of the vehicle operator 106 into a comprehensiveimpairment level group with the policies of other vehicle operators withsimilar comprehensive impairment scores. The comprehensive impairmentlevel groups may be set to follow a normal distribution; however, thecomprehensive impairment level groups may also be set to follow anyother known distribution model. There may be any number of comprehensiveimpairment level groups (e.g., ten comprehensive impairment levelgroups), and the groups may or may not be evenly distributed along thenormal curve. Each of the groups may be assigned an insurance policyrate increase or decrease amount. For example, if there are tencomprehensive impairment level groups where Comprehensive ImpairmentLevel Group 1 includes policies of vehicle operators associated thathave the highest comprehensive impairment scores (indicating a highlevel of impairment) and Comprehensive Impairment Group 10 includespolicies that have the lowest comprehensive impairment scores, thenpolicies grouped in Comprehensive Impairment Level Groups 1-3 may beassociated with an insurance rate increase (e.g., $300, $200, and $100,respectively), Comprehensive Impairment Level Groups 4-6 may not beassociated with an increase or decrease, and Comprehensive ImpairmentLevel Groups 7-10 may be associated with an insurance rate decrease(e.g., −$100, −$200, and −$300, respectively). This information oninsurance rate adjustments based upon calculated risk related to vehicleoperator emotional state may be conveyed to customers or prospectivecustomers, providing an incentive for emotional state management and adisincentive for risky vehicle operation behavior.

Further, it may be advantageous to flag policies with particularly highlevels of comprehensive impairment for cancellation of the insurancepolicy. In some embodiments, the policies grouped in the most impairedgroups may not be charged an increased rate. In such embodiments, theprospect of a discount without the risk of an insurance rate increasemay be used to entice a vehicle operator 106 to use the vehicle operatorimpairment monitoring system 100. Once the insurance policy of thevehicle operator 106 has been sorted into the appropriate group, thediscount or increase that may be associated with the group may beapplied to the policy of the vehicle operator 106 (block 1408). Morethan one vehicle operator 106 may be on the same policy (e.g., a marriedcouple, a family with children on the policy, etc.). If more than onevehicle operator 106 is on the same policy, the vehicle operator emotionmanagement system 100 may be used to adjust the rate for the entirepolicy based on the comprehensive impairment scores of the variousvehicle operators 106, such as by aggregating or averaging thecomprehensive impairment scores of the multiple vehicle operators.

Alternatively, or additionally, the comprehensive impairment score maybe used to determine an amount of an insurance rate increase or decreasefor a policy associated with the vehicle operator 106. The comprehensiveimpairment score may be used alone or in combination with otheravailable information regarding the vehicle operator to estimate a risklevel associated with the vehicle operator 106. The risk leveldetermination may be used to adjust rates according to any mathematical,statistical, or actuarial model or may be used to limit insurance policycoverage under certain conditions. For example, certain minimal levelsof insurance coverage may be required based on the risk determination,or, conversely, certain limitations may be set on the maximum level ofinsurance coverage available for losses due to certain causes. Insurancerates may also be quoted to a customer or prospective customer in amanner dependent upon future measurements of vehicle operatorimpairment. This may be particularly valuable for short-term policies,such as those associated with short-term vehicle rentals, or in othercircumstances where a record of past impairment may be unavailable.

FIG. 15 is a flow diagram depicting an exemplary embodiment of acomprehensive impairment score determination method 1500 implemented bythe vehicle operator emotion management system 100 while determining acomprehensive impairment score for the vehicle operator 106 at block1404. The method 1500 may receive sensor data from the mobile device 110or onboard computer 114 (block 1502), individual impairment indicatorsfrom the mobile device 110 or onboard computer 114 (block 1504), ortotal impairment scores calculated by the mobile device 110 or onboardcomputer 114 (block 1506). The method 1500 may also receive additionalsensor data or telematic information regarding the operation of thevehicle 108. If the method 1500 receives sensor data, the server 140 maygenerate each impairment indicator score and total impairment score in amanner similar to how the mobile device 110 or onboard computer 114calculates the scores as discussed above with respect to FIGS. 4 and 5.For example, the server 140 may determine a GSR score using GSR sensordata transmitted via network 130. Because the memory and computing powerof the server 140 may be greater than the mobile device or onboardcomputer 114, it may be advantageous to calculate the various scoresusing a longer period of time (e.g., an average hard braking score overone week rather than over a number of minutes). Sensor data may also bedirectly used by the comprehensive impairment score determinationmethod, in which case it may be normalized to an appropriate scale(e.g., 0-100 points, etc.) by any of the various known adjustmentmethods. The server 140 may also receive individual impairment indicatorscores or total impairment scores from the mobile device 110 or onboardcomputer 114. In a manner similar to FIGS. 4 and 5, the method 1500 maydetermine a comprehensive impairment score by multiplying each score bya weighting factor 1508 a, b, and c. Each score may be weighted equally,or it may be advantageous to weight the scores differently. The method1500 may then sum the weighted scores to determine a comprehensiveimpairment score (block 1510). The comprehensive impairment score may belogged with a timestamp and stored in the system database 246.

Throughout this specification, plural instances may implementcomponents, operations, or structures described as a single instance.Although individual operations of one or more methods are illustratedand described as separate operations, one or more of the individualoperations may be performed concurrently, and nothing requires that theoperations be performed in the order illustrated. Structures andfunctionality presented as separate components in example configurationsmay be implemented as a combined structure or component. Similarly,structures and functionality presented as a single component may beimplemented as separate components. These and other variations,modifications, additions, and improvements fall within the scope of thesubject matter herein.

Additionally, certain embodiments are described herein as includinglogic or a number of routines, subroutines, applications, orinstructions. These may constitute either software (code embodied on anon-transitory, tangible machine-readable medium) or hardware. Inhardware, the routines, etc., are tangible units capable of performingcertain operations and may be configured or arranged in a certainmanner. In example embodiments, one or more computer systems (e.g., astandalone, client or server computer system) or one or more hardwaremodules of a computer system (e.g., a processor or a group ofprocessors) may be configured by software (e.g., an application orapplication portion) as a hardware module that operates to performcertain operations as described herein.

In various embodiments, a hardware module may be implementedmechanically or electronically. For example, a hardware module maycomprise dedicated circuitry or logic that is permanently configured(e.g., as a special-purpose processor, such as a field programmable gatearray (FPGA) or an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) toperform certain operations. A hardware module may also compriseprogrammable logic or circuitry (e.g., as encompassed within ageneral-purpose processor or other programmable processor) that istemporarily configured by software to perform certain operations. Itwill be appreciated that the decision to implement a hardware modulemechanically, in dedicated and permanently configured circuitry, or intemporarily configured circuitry (e.g., configured by software) may bedriven by cost and time considerations.

Accordingly, the term “hardware module” should be understood toencompass a tangible entity, be that an entity that is physicallyconstructed, permanently configured (e.g., hardwired), or temporarilyconfigured (e.g., programmed) to operate in a certain manner or toperform certain operations described herein. Considering embodiments inwhich hardware modules are temporarily configured (e.g., programmed),each of the hardware modules need not be configured or instantiated atany one instance in time. For example, where the hardware modulescomprise a general-purpose processor configured using software, thegeneral-purpose processor may be configured as respective differenthardware modules at different times. Software may accordingly configurea processor, for example, to constitute a particular hardware module atone instance of time and to constitute a different hardware module at adifferent instance of time.

Hardware modules can provide information to, and receive informationfrom, other hardware modules. Accordingly, the described hardwaremodules may be regarded as being communicatively coupled. Where multipleof such hardware modules exist contemporaneously, communications may beachieved through signal transmission (e.g., over appropriate circuitsand buses) that connect the hardware modules. In embodiments in whichmultiple hardware modules are configured or instantiated at differenttimes, communications between such hardware modules may be achieved, forexample, through the storage and retrieval of information in memorystructures to which the multiple hardware modules have access. Forexample, one hardware module may perform an operation and store theoutput of that operation in a memory device to which it iscommunicatively coupled. A further hardware module may then, at a latertime, access the memory device to retrieve and process the storedoutput. Hardware modules may also initiate communications with input oroutput devices, and can operate on a resource (e.g., a collection ofinformation).

The various operations of example methods described herein may beperformed, at least partially, by one or more processors that aretemporarily configured (e.g., by software) or permanently configured toperform the relevant operations. Whether temporarily or permanentlyconfigured, such processors may constitute processor-implemented modulesthat operate to perform one or more operations or functions. The modulesreferred to herein may, in some example embodiments, compriseprocessor-implemented modules.

Similarly, the methods or routines described herein may be at leastpartially processor-implemented. For example, at least some of theoperations of a method may be performed by one or more processors orprocessor-implemented hardware modules. The performance of certain ofthe operations may be distributed among the one or more processors, notonly residing within a single machine, but deployed across a number ofmachines. In some example embodiments, the processor or processors maybe located in a single location (e.g., within a home environment, anoffice environment or as a server farm), while in other embodiments theprocessors may be distributed across a number of locations.

The performance of certain of the operations may be distributed amongthe one or more processors, not only residing within a single machine,but deployed across a number of machines. In some example embodiments,the one or more processors or processor-implemented modules may belocated in a single geographic location (e.g., within a homeenvironment, an office environment, or a server farm). In other exampleembodiments, the one or more processors or processor-implemented modulesmay be distributed across a number of geographic locations.

Unless specifically stated otherwise, discussions herein using wordssuch as “processing,” “computing,” “calculating,” “determining,”“presenting,” “displaying,” or the like may refer to actions orprocesses of a machine (e.g., a computer) that manipulates or transformsdata represented as physical (e.g., electronic, magnetic, or optical)quantities within one or more memories (e.g., volatile memory,non-volatile memory, or a combination thereof), registers, or othermachine components that receive, store, transmit, or displayinformation.

As used herein any reference to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment”means that a particular element, feature, structure, or characteristicdescribed in connection with the embodiment is included in at least oneembodiment. The appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” in variousplaces in the specification are not necessarily all referring to thesame embodiment.

Some embodiments may be described using the expression “coupled” and“connected” along with their derivatives. For example, some embodimentsmay be described using the term “coupled” to indicate that two or moreelements are in direct physical or electrical contact. The term“coupled,” however, may also mean that two or more elements are not indirect contact with each other, but yet still co-operate or interactwith each other. The embodiments are not limited in this context.

As used herein, the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes,”“including,” “has,” “having” or any other variation thereof, areintended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process,method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements is notnecessarily limited to only those elements but may include otherelements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method,article, or apparatus. Further, unless expressly stated to the contrary,“or” refers to an inclusive or and not to an exclusive or. For example,a condition A or B is satisfied by any one of the following: A is true(or present) and B is false (or not present), A is false (or notpresent) and B is true (or present), and both A and B are true (orpresent).

In addition, use of the “a” or “an” are employed to describe elementsand components of the embodiments herein. This is done merely forconvenience and to give a general sense of the description. Thisdescription, and the claims that follow, should be read to include oneor at least one and the singular also includes the plural unless it isobvious that it is meant otherwise.

This detailed description is to be construed as exemplary only and doesnot describe every possible embodiment, as describing every possibleembodiment would be impractical, if not impossible. One could implementnumerous alternate embodiments, using either current technology ortechnology developed after the filing date of this application.

Upon reading this disclosure, those of skill in the art will appreciatestill additional alternative structural and functional designs forsystem and a method for assigning mobile device data to a vehiclethrough the disclosed principles herein. Thus, while particularembodiments and applications have been illustrated and described, it isto be understood that the disclosed embodiments are not limited to theprecise construction and components disclosed herein. Variousmodifications, changes and variations, which will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art, may be made in the arrangement, operation anddetails of the method and apparatus disclosed herein without departingfrom the spirit and scope defined in the appended claims.

The particular features, structures, or characteristics of any specificembodiment may be combined in any suitable manner and in any suitablecombination with one or more other embodiments, including the use ofselected features without corresponding use of other features. Inaddition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particularapplication, situation or material to the essential scope and spirit ofthe present invention. It is to be understood that other variations andmodifications of the embodiments of the present invention described andillustrated herein are possible in light of the teachings herein and areto be considered part of the spirit and scope of the present invention.By way of example, and not limitation, the present disclosurecontemplates at least the following aspects:

1. A computer-implemented method for managing an emotional state of avehicle operator, comprising: receiving, using one or more processors,sensor data regarding the emotional state of the vehicle operator fromone or more sensors; determining, using one or more processors, whetherthe received sensor data indicate the vehicle operator is in an impairedemotional state; selecting, using one or more processors, one or morestimuli to improve the emotional state of the vehicle operator based onthe received sensor data by predicting the ability of the stimuli toimprove the emotional state of the vehicle operator; and presenting theselected stimuli to the vehicle operator when the vehicle operator isdetermined to be in an impaired emotional state.

2. The method according to aspect 1, wherein the received sensor datacomprises one or more of the following types of physiological sensordata regarding the vehicle operator: a heart rate, heart ratevariability data, a grip pressure, electrodermal activity data, atelematics driving score, a body temperature, an arm movement, a headmovement, a vocal amplitude, a vocal frequency, a vocal pattern, a gazedirection, a gaze duration, a head direction, an eyelid opening, a blinkrate, pupillometry data, a blood pressure, electroencephalographic data,a respiration rate, a respiration pattern, a galvanic skin response,functional near infrared optical brain imaging data, functional magneticresonance imaging data, or electromyographic data.

3. The method according to either aspect 1 or aspect 2, whereinselecting the one or more stimuli further comprises selecting one ormore of a musical composition, an ambient or natural sound recording, arecorded message, a constant or variable tone, an aromatic stimulus, atactile stimulus, a temperature stimulus, a visual stimulus, or anambient environmental condition.

4. The method according to any one of the preceding aspects, furthercomprising selecting the one or more stimuli using a user profile forthe vehicle operator containing information relating prior stimulipresented to the vehicle operator to prior sensor data received from theone or more sensors at the time the prior stimuli were presented.

5. The method according to any one of the preceding aspects, furthercomprising receiving the sensor data by one or more mobile devices orone or more on-board computers within the vehicle, and determining withthe mobile device or the on-board computer whether the sensor dataindicate the vehicle operator is in an impaired emotional state,selecting with the mobile device or the on-board computer one or morestimuli, and controlling with the mobile device or the on-board computerthe presentation of the stimuli to the vehicle operator.

6. The method according to any one of the preceding aspects, whereindetermining, using one or more processors, whether the sensor dataindicate the vehicle operator is in an impaired emotional state furthercomprises: calculating, using one or more processors, a plurality ofimpairment scores using the sensor data; calculating, using one or moreprocessors, one or more total impairment scores from one or more of theplurality of impairment scores; and determining, using one or moreprocessors, whether one or more of the total impairment scores fails toreach a minimum threshold value or exceeds a maximum threshold value.

7. The method according to any one of the preceding aspects, furthercomprising transmitting the sensor data, the impairment scores, or thetotal impairment scores to one or more servers through a network anddetermining with the one or more servers whether the sensor dataindicate the vehicle operator is in an impaired emotional state,selecting one or more stimuli, and controlling the presentation of thestimuli to the vehicle operator.

8. The method according to any one of the preceding aspects, furthercomprising comparing the total impairment scores with total impairmentscores of other vehicle operators to adjust an insurance premium chargedto the vehicle operator.

9. A computer system for managing an emotional state of a vehicleoperator, comprising: one or more processors; one or more sensors; and aprogram memory storing executable instructions that when executed by theone or more processors cause the computer system to: receive sensor dataregarding the vehicle operator from the one or more sensors; determinewhether the vehicle operator is in an impaired emotional state based onthe received sensor data; select one or more stimuli to improve theemotional state of the vehicle operator based on the received sensordata; and deliver the selected stimuli to the vehicle operator when thevehicle operator is determined to be in an impaired emotional state.

10. The computer system according to aspect 9, wherein the sensors areconfigured to measure one or more of the following types ofphysiological sensor data regarding the vehicle operator: a heart rate,heart rate variability data, a grip pressure, electrodermal activitydata, a telematics driving score, a body temperature, an arm movement, ahead movement, a vocal amplitude, a vocal frequency, a vocal pattern, agaze direction, a gaze duration, a head direction, an eyelid opening, ablink rate, pupillometry data, a blood pressure, electroencephalographicdata, a respiration rate, a respiration pattern, a galvanic skinresponse, functional near infrared optical brain imaging data,functional magnetic resonance imaging data, or electromyographic data.

11. The computer system according to either aspect 9 or aspect 10,wherein the stimuli are selected from a set of stimuli consisting of oneor more of a musical composition, an ambient or natural sound recording,a recorded message, a constant or variable tone, an aromatic stimulus, atactile stimulus, a temperature stimulus, a visual stimulus, or anambient environmental condition.

12. The computer system according to any one of aspects 9-11, furthercomprising executable instructions that when executed by the processorcause the computer system to: access a user profile for the vehicleoperator containing information relating prior stimuli presented to thevehicle operator to prior sensor data received from the one or moresensors at the time the prior stimuli were presented; predict theresponse of the vehicle operator to a plurality of stimuli using thesensor data and the user profile; and select one or more stimuli basedupon the predicted responses of the vehicle operator to the stimuli.

13. The computer system according to any one of aspects 9-12, furthercomprising executable instructions that when executed by the processorcause the computer system to: calculate a plurality of impairment scoresusing the sensor data; calculate one or more total impairment scoresfrom one or more of the plurality of impairment scores; and determinewhether one or more of the total impairment scores fails to reach aminimum threshold value or exceeds a maximum threshold value.

14. The computer system according to any one of aspects 9-13, whereinthe one or more processors are configured within a mobile device or anon-board computer.

15. The computer system according to any one of aspects 9-14, whereinthe computer system further comprises one or more servers connectedthrough a network and wherein the servers are configured to receive thesensor data or information derived therefrom, determine whether thevehicle operator is in an impaired emotional state, and select thestimuli to improve the emotional state of the vehicle operator.

16. A tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium storinginstructions that when executed by one or more processors of a computersystem cause the computer system to: monitor a vehicle operator usingsensor data from one or more sensors; determine whether the vehicleoperator is in an impaired emotional state based on the sensor data;select one or more stimuli to improve the emotional state of the vehicleoperator based on the sensor data; and cause the selected stimuli to bedelivered to the vehicle operator when the vehicle operator isdetermined to be in an impaired emotional state.

17. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium according toaspect 16, wherein the sensor data comprise one or more of the followingtypes of physiological sensor data regarding the vehicle operator: aheart rate, heart rate variability data, a grip pressure, electrodermalactivity data, a telematics driving score, a body temperature, an armmovement, a head movement, a vocal amplitude, a vocal frequency, a vocalpattern, a gaze direction, a gaze duration, a head direction, an eyelidopening, a blink rate, pupillometry data, a blood pressure,electroencephalographic data, a respiration rate, a respiration pattern,a galvanic skin response, functional near infrared optical brain imagingdata, functional magnetic resonance imaging data, or electromyographicdata.

18. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium according toeither aspect 16 or aspect 17, wherein the stimuli are selected from aset of stimuli comprising one or more of a musical composition, anambient or natural sound recording, a recorded message, a constant orvariable tone, an aromatic stimulus, a tactile stimulus, a temperaturestimulus, a visual stimulus, or an ambient environmental condition.

19. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium according toany one of aspects 16-18, wherein the executable instructions that whenexecuted by the one or more processors cause the computer system toselect the one or more stimuli to improve the emotional state of thevehicle operator based on the sensor data further comprise executableinstructions that when executed by the one or more processors cause thecomputer system to:

access a user profile for the vehicle operator containing informationrelating prior stimuli presented to the vehicle operator to prior sensordata received from the one or more sensors at the time the prior stimuliwere presented; predict the response of the vehicle operator to aplurality of stimuli using the sensor data and the user profile; andselect one or more stimuli based upon the predicted responses of thevehicle operator to the stimuli.

20. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium according toany one of aspects 16-19, wherein the executable instructions that whenexecuted by the one or more processors cause the computer system todetermine whether the vehicle operator is in an impaired emotional statebased on the sensor data further comprise executable instructions thatwhen executed by the one or more processors cause the computer systemto: calculate a plurality of impairment scores using the sensor data;calculate one or more total impairment scores from one or more of theplurality of impairment scores; and determine whether one or more of thetotal impairment scores fails to reach a minimum threshold value orexceeds a maximum threshold value.

21. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium according toany one of aspects 16-20, further comprising executable instruction thatwhen executed by the one or more processors cause the computer systemto: transmit the sensor data, impairment scores, or total impairmentscores to a server through a network; determine whether the vehicleoperator is in an impaired emotional state and select one or morestimuli using the server; transmit the selected stimuli or dataidentifying the selected stimuli through the network from the server tothe one or more mobile devices or the one or more on-board computers inthe vehicle; and present the selected stimuli to the vehicle operatorusing the mobile device or the on-board computer.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method for managing anemotional state of a vehicle operator of a vehicle, comprising:collecting, by one or more physiological sensors within the vehicle,sensor data regarding one or more physiological states of the vehicleoperator; calculating, by one or more processors, at least oneimpairment indicator score using the sensor data, wherein the at leastone impairment indicator score indicates an extent of vehicle operatordeviation from a normal emotional state with respect to a physiologicalmetric; when the vehicle operator is in an impaired emotional statebased upon the at least one impairment indicator score, selecting, byone or more processors, one or more musical stimuli to improve theemotional state of the vehicle operator based upon a user profileassociated with the vehicle operator; and when a sound component of thevehicle is detected to be available, causing, by controlling the soundcomponent within the vehicle and while the vehicle operator is in theimpaired emotional state, the one or more musical stimuli to be playedto the user to improve the emotional state of the vehicle operator. 2.The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the one or moremusical stimuli include one or more recorded songs.
 3. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein detecting the soundcomponent is available to play the one or more musical stimuli includesdetecting the end of a currently playing song.
 4. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving,at one or more processors, an indication from the vehicle operator tochange the musical stimuli; updating, by one or more processors, theuser profile based upon the received indication; selecting, by one ormore processors, one or more alternate musical stimuli based upon theupdated user profile; and causing, by controlling the sound componentwithin the vehicle, the one or more alternate musical stimuli to beplayed to improve the emotional state of the vehicle operator.
 5. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving,at one or more processors, an indication from the vehicle operator tostop playing musical stimuli; updating, by one or more processors, theuser profile based upon the received indication; and stopping, bycontrolling the sound component within the vehicle, the one or moremusical stimuli from continuing to be played to the user.
 6. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: collecting,by one or more vehicle motion sensors within the vehicle, vehicle sensordata regarding movement of the vehicle during operation; andcalculating, by one or more processors, a plurality of operationalimpairment indicator scores using the vehicle sensor data, wherein eachof the plurality of operational impairment indicator scores indicate ametric associated with proper vehicle operation by the vehicle operator.7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the collectedsensor data comprises one or more of the following types ofphysiological sensor data regarding the vehicle operator: a heart rate,heart rate variability data, a grip pressure, electrodermal activitydata, a vocal pattern, a gaze direction, a gaze duration, a headdirection, an eyelid opening, a blink rate, pupillometry data, a bloodpressure, electroencephalographic data, a respiration rate, arespiration pattern, a galvanic skin response, functional near infraredoptical brain imaging data, functional magnetic resonance imaging data,or electromyographic data.
 8. The computer-implemented method of claim1, wherein the user profile for the vehicle operator containsinformation relating to prior stimuli presented to the vehicle operator.9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein determining, byone or more processors, the vehicle operator is in an impaired emotionalstate further comprises: determining, by one or more processors, that atotal impairment score fails to reach a minimum threshold valueassociated with unimpaired vehicle operation or exceed a maximumthreshold value associated with unimpaired vehicle operation.
 10. Acomputer system for managing an emotional state of a vehicle operator ofa vehicle, comprising: one or more processors; one or more physiologicalsensors within the vehicle; and a program memory storing executableinstructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, causethe computer system to: collect sensor data regarding one or morephysiological states of the vehicle operator using the one or morephysiological sensors; calculate an impairment indicator score using thesensor data, wherein the impairment indicator score indicates an extentof vehicle operator deviation from a normal emotional state with respectto a physiological metric; when the vehicle operator is in an impairedemotional state based upon the impairment indicator score, select one ormore musical stimuli to improve the emotional state of the vehicleoperator by predicting the ability of the stimuli to improve theemotional state of the vehicle operator based upon a user profileassociated with the vehicle operator; and when a sound component of thevehicle is detected to be available and while the vehicle operator is inthe impaired emotional state, cause the sound component within thevehicle to play the one or more musical stimuli to the user to improvethe emotional state of the vehicle operator.
 11. The computer system ofclaim 10, wherein the one or more musical stimuli include one or morerecorded songs.
 12. The computer system of claim 10, wherein theexecutable instructions that cause the computer system to detect thesound component is available to play the one or more musical stimulifurther cause the computer system to detect the end of the a currentlyplaying song.
 13. The computer system of claim 10, wherein theexecutable instructions further cause the computer system to: receive anindication from the vehicle operator to change the musical stimuli;update the user profile based upon the received indication; select oneor more alternate musical stimuli based upon the updated user profile;and cause the sound component within the vehicle to play the one or morealternate musical stimuli to improve the emotional state of the vehicleoperator.
 14. The computer system of claim 10, wherein the executableinstructions further cause the computer system to: receive an indicationfrom the vehicle operator to stop playing musical stimuli; update theuser profile based upon the received indication; and stop the soundcomponent within the vehicle from continuing to play the one or moremusical stimuli.
 15. The computer system of claim 10, further comprisingone or more vehicle motion sensors within the vehicle, wherein: theexecutable instructions further cause the computer system to: collectvehicle sensor data regarding movement of the vehicle during operationfrom the one or more vehicle motion sensors within the vehicle; andcalculate an operational impairment indicator score using the vehiclesensor data, wherein the operational impairment indicator scoreindicates a metric associated with proper vehicle operation by thevehicle operator.
 16. A tangible, non-transitory computer-readablemedium storing instructions that when executed by one or more processorsof a computer system cause the computer system to: monitor a vehicleoperator of a vehicle using sensor data from one or more physiologicalsensors within the vehicle; calculate at least one impairment indicatorscore using the sensor data, wherein the at least one impairmentindicator score indicates an extent of vehicle operator deviation from anormal emotional state with respect to a physiological metric; when thevehicle operator is in an impaired emotional state based upon the atleast one impairment indicator score, select one or more musical stimulito improve the emotional state of the vehicle operator by predicting theability of the stimuli to improve the emotional state of the vehicleoperator based upon a user profile associated with the vehicle operator;and when a sound component of the vehicle is detected to be availableand while the vehicle operator is in the impaired emotional state, causethe sound component within the vehicle to play the one or more musicalstimuli to the user to improve the emotional state of the vehicleoperator.
 17. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium ofclaim 16, wherein the one or more musical stimuli include one or morerecorded songs.
 18. The tangible, non-transitory computer-readablemedium of claim 16, wherein the executable instructions that cause thecomputer system to detect the sound component is available to play theone or more musical stimuli further cause the computer system to detectthe end of a currently playing song.
 19. The tangible, non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 16, further storing executableinstructions further cause the computer system to: receive an indicationfrom the vehicle operator to change the musical stimuli; update the userprofile based upon the received indication; select one or more alternatemusical stimuli based upon the updated user profile; and cause the soundcomponent within the vehicle to play the one or more alternate musicalstimuli to improve the emotional state of the vehicle operator.
 20. Thetangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, furtherstoring executable instructions further cause the computer system to:receive an indication from the vehicle operator to stop playing musicalstimuli; update the user profile based upon the received indication; andstop the sound component within the vehicle to play the one or moremusical stimuli.